Good morning and happy Friday after a long tough week. Here’s the Digest.
1.In her first public comments five days aftera Minneapolis police officer shot and killed Justine Damond, Chief Jane Harteau said the department will work on regaining the public's trust, acknowledging that "Justine didn't have to die." Harteau said the department will take a close look at its body camera policies, and acknowledged that the officers' body cameras should have been on during the shooting. "This is about an individual officer's actions. It is not about race or ethnicity," Harteau said. "We have a very robust training and hiring process. This officer completed that training very well, just like every officer. He was very suited to be on the street."(Star Tribune)
2. Two state representatives filed a lawsuit against the Minnesota House and Speaker Kurt Daudt Thursday for not raising lawmaker salaries as the Senate did on July 1st. State voters passed a constitutional amendment last fall that took legislative pay decisions away from lawmakers and gave the responsibility to an independent panel. That panel set a new annual salary of $45,000, up from the $31,000 set in 1999. The Senate implemented the raise but the House did not. Rep. Marion O'Neill, R-Maple Lake, and Rep. Rena Moran, DFL-St. Paul contend the House "violated a clear legal duty" to pay the new salary. (MPR News)
3. When Rochester Civic Theatre board executive director Gregory Stavrou stepped down this spring, he cited health reasons. Board leadership praised his work. But multiple people who worked there say Stavrou sexually harassed them. Though previous board members were aware of Stavrou’s behavior, they were ineffective at stopping it. (MPR News)
4. Repealing and not replacing the Affordable Care Act would jeopardize health insurance for hundreds of thousand of Minnesotans. Obamacare funding pays most of the health insurance costs for about 200,000 Minnesotans enrolled in Medicaid-funded Medical Assistance through the ACA expansion of the program. The ACA also foots almost all of the bill for roughly 100,000 Minnesotans who have subsidized health insurance through Minnesota’s state-sponsored MinnesotaCare program. And this year $330 million dollars in federal Affordable Care Act tax credits are helping more than 66,000 Minnesotans pay for individual market health insurance plans. The Minnesota Hospital Association says a repeal would cost the health systems it represents tens of millions of dollars.( MPR News)
5. Big summer job gains have pushed Minnesota's total employment above 3 million for the first time in state history. The Department of Employment and Economic Development said Thursday that the state added 4,400 new jobs in June. That leaves the state's unemployment rate at 3.7 percent - below the national average of 4.4 percent unemployment. Job growth in leisure and hospitality led the way while manufacturing and government industries also added jobs in June. Those gains were offset by 2,700 fewer jobs in education and health services and other areas. (AP via Pioneer Press)
